Polio warning by WHO should put all nations on guard

Like much of the rest of the world, we thought — and had fervently hoped — we had seen the last of polio. Apparently, we were wrong.

Faced with evidence of sudden dramatic spreads of a wild polio virus on three continents, the World Health Organization declared a multinational state of emergency on Monday.

It was a needed step and it should serve as a clarion call to all nations, even ones such as the United States that are not located on those continents. We in Woodland should know. We have direct experience with the devastating effects of polio, as resident Bill Hollingshead will attest. He spent the early part of his life in an iron lung.

In fact, some people might remember last summer during the 2013 Stroll Through History where Rotary of Woodland set up and exhibited an authentic iron lunch machine. It was a ghastly device, but necessary to ensure people like Hollingshead were able to stay alive.

At one time, there were rooms nearly as big as football fields full of iron lungs, which were — in turn — filled with young children.

In recent years, Rotary International has made it a worldwide campaign to draw attention to polio. Our local group has worked many hours raising money, and awareness, of this curable disease in hopes of curbing its spread. They have made some progress, but (obviously) not nearly enough.

It was just two years ago that world health officials thought that the disease was all but eradicated. Now, at least 10 countries are thought to be affected by a wild new polio virus.

Immediate action to contain the spread of this virus is critical, and groups like Rotary are critical in fighting it.

Health officials believe that Pakistan, Syria and Cameroon were at the heart of allowing this virus to spread. In addition to those countries, Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Somalia have registered outbreaks.

While the disease usually strikes children under 6, a committee of the WHO said that "increasing evidence that adult travelers contributed" to the most recent spread.

That's a very scary thought, considering so many people are traveling across the world. Being seated on a trans-oceanic flight with a couple of hundred other people is worrisome enough as it is when it comes to spreading minor infections such as colds. Knowing one of those people might also have the polio virus and could spread it is something to sear the soul.

The health organization said that there were only 223 cases of polio registered worldwide in 2012 after a long, steady decline. But that number nearly doubled to 417 in 2013. What's more, 60 percent of the new cases appeared in countries that were thought to be polio free for years.

Looking at the affected countries, it is clear that wars big and small are substantial contributors to the problem. Such conflicts often cause interruption of vital vaccination campaigns.

Yes, contrary to reports in some quarters, vaccinations do work against poliomyelitis. Not only do vaccines work, they are essential because polio is highly infectious. What's worse, the virus can be carried without displaying symptoms, which allows for accidental infection of hundreds of others.

But vaccination is not always easy, especially for nations in turmoil.

For example, Dr. Bruce Aylward, who is in charge of vaccination efforts for the WHO, told The New York Times that in Pakistan Taliban militants repeatedly attacked health workers administering vaccines, especially after American forces located and killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 using information gathered in part by a doctor under the guise of a vaccination campaign.

Polio remains a preventable disease with immunization, but once it is contracted there is no cure and it manifests as terrible forms of paralysis and can even cause death.

That is why the WHO announcement is so important. Critics of the organization say that it should have done something sooner, which may be true.

But be that as it may, this emergency is something the world must now take seriously.

We owe it to people like Hollingshead. We owe it to groups like Rotary. We owe it to children across the world to take action.